Wilson’s Wheelhouse: Weekend Recap

Wow. What a weekend we just had! UNC remained undefeated and gave Maryland their first loss of the season 9-7. Virginia proved once and for all that Hopkins just doesn’t have what it takes in 2010.

The UVA midfield with Rhamel and Shamel Bratton, Brian Carroll and Max Pomper is good. Like really, really good. Scary good, even. Ken Clausen is also a machine out there on defense for the Wahoos and can really do it all with his tremendous foot speed and stick skills. If you want to see some highlights of the UVA Hopkins game, then click away.

Clausen is a stand up defender although I'd duck too if Wharton were bombing one near my head.

Duke kept pace with its basketball team and kept on winning by taking down Georgetown. Andrew Brancaccio, middie for the Hoyas, has been one of the biggest dissappointments this year, especially when you consider some people talked about him as the future of the game.

Lafayette lost to Drexel in their toughest game of the year by 1 and this will not help them make the NCAAS unless they continue to win Patriot League games. The Leopards will need the AQ to get in as their SOS is really weak this year.

Consistent contender (and my number 1), Syracuse doesn’t play Villanova until tonight. I expect Jeremy Thompson, Cuse middie, to have a big day on offense and for him to keep on dominating the face off square. The Cuse D has been lights out recently and this is a group of longpoles that is an absolute pleasure to watch.

Joel White, Matt Tierney and John Lade are all more than capable of taking the ball away, picking off passes and creating transition when the time is right. They can also man up and play solid D whenever they have to. For any younger Dman out there looking to model himself after a current college player, the Cuse D provides a lot of perfect examples.

Joel White throwing a little somethin' somethin' for Cuse.

Salisbury remained undefeated by taking down Gettysburg in OT for what has to be the D3 game of the year so far and my personal #1, Stevenson, impressed by doubling up Roanoke 18-9. Denison lost to Wooster (for the first time since 1991!) and that takes them out of contender status and puts them back into the unknown zone.

Tufts is barely squeaking by opponents and Conn College should skyrocket in the polls with a big win over NESCAC rival Middlebury. I can tell you who the best 4 teams are (Stevenson, Salisbury, Gettysburg, Cortland) but beyond that, the best anyone can do is break down the rankings into tiers or buckets. Where you place a team within a bucket is purely speculative and it’s almost April! Division 3 thy name is parity.

Sweet D3 lax, dyed heads and swim dodges. Along with historical battles and political addresses, that's what Gettysburg does!

In top MCLA action, Michigan doubled up Duluth and while this win is impressive, everyone needs to remember that UMich has had 2 one goal games this season. The Wolverines are EVERYONE’s number 1 (even if you hate them) but they are definitely beatable.

The key will be getting past the mystique and rep and just playing them straight up with confidence. Either that or getting them in the MCLA tourney after a tough game. Special teams including faceoffs, penalties and possession will also make a huge difference.

Colorado State is another team that one could argue is a potential number 1. Their uniforms are a little less flashy this year but the talent level is as high as ever. Their only loss is to a good D3 team in Colorado College. Granted, CC hasn’t beaten anyone great but the Tigers are still looking good and are clearly back on the right track so the loss isn’t that bad. CSU has looked pretty dominant for the most part.

Arizona State has been showing well lately with really solid wins over California and UCSB. ASU’s upcoming game on 4/3 with Oregon should be an unreal game. Both ASU and UO lost to Michigan by 1 so you know both of these squads can ball with the best of them. This game may do a lot more to show who is going to be dancing later this season.

At this point, both ASU and CSU should be considered contenders for the MCLA crown.

Before Oregon gets a shot at ASU, they take on 11-0 Chapman on 4/1. Got to give props to the Ducks for scheduling two teams of this kind of quality within 2 days of each other. Chappy just beat Colorado by 5. I actually thought they would win by more but maybe they were just saving some Gs for the Ducks… if that’s true, watch out Oregon!

Overall it was a great weekend of lax… even if Craven, me and the boys of Soutampton got bounced from the Ulax playoffs 7-6 in OT to the team that lost in the finals by 2. I’m not one for excuses but considering we only had 11 players show up, I thought it was a pretty good effort.

David Schwartzberg continued to rip it up by netting 4 goals in the loss. Not bad for a kid who played club ball at Hofstra. Of course, he comes from the one and only Ward Melville HS on Long Island so you be the judge.

An added bonus is that the Thumbspiracy subsided for a week. I checked through hundreds of photos and didn’t see any real infractions. So either the photographers are missing it (maybe on purpose! Thumbspiracy!) or the refs are starting to call it. I’ll go with the former on that one.

Later this week I’ll be back recapping some midweek action and setting up the scene for the weekend. It’s going to another good one. I can just feel it.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ About the Author: Connor is a pretty average lacrosse player at this point who doesn’t know when to give up on the game. He played and coached in the NESCAC and still plays for the Southampton LC in NYC. Connor lives with his fiance in Brooklyn and thanks her for allowing him to keep the dream alive.

About the author

Connor Wilson

Connor is the Publisher of LacrosseAllStars.com. He lives in Brooklyn with his better half, continues to play and coach both box and field lacrosse in NYC as much as possible, and covers the great game that is lacrosse full-time. He spends his spare time stringing sticks and watching Futurama.

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